Wednesday 8-Jan-2003 12:00 AM Yu Suzuki suggests "different approach" for what's likely to be the series finale Bad news for fans of the ponderous, yet absorbing, adventure series that began life on Sega's Dreamcast. In an interview with an American games magazine, legendary designer Yu Suzuki has suggested that he'd like to take a "different approach" for Shenmue III - specifically, he wants to turn the next chapter into a CGI-only movie.
This is in line with prophecy of course, as Suzuki had previously stated that should sales of Shenmue II prove disappointing (as was the case), the series may well be wound up far earlier than it's original eleven-chapter plan entailed. Some sort of resolution would be expected however, as Shenmue II (look away now if you don't want to know the score) ended on something of a major cliff-hanger and it simply wouldn't have been fair to the devoted fans of the series to leave them twisting in the wind like that.
Advertisement:
The movie would be along the same lines as the CGI 'extra' that accompanied Shenmue II (essentially all of episode one's FMV sequences strung together to bring newcomers up to date).
The decision, if indeed it is final, has not proved to be a popular one with said fans however - most of whom are so devoted to the world of Ryo Hazuki that anything less than a fully interactive game seems like a hasty way to wrap up a failed experiment.
Nonetheless, it's not all bad news for fans of Suzuki-san. It was announced yesterday that the Academy of Interactive Arts and Science has inducted the Japanese genius into its Hall Of Fame - taking residence alongside such luminaries as Will 'Sim City' Wright, John Carmack, Hironbu 'Final Fantasy' Sakaguchi, Sid Meier and the one and only Shigeru Miyamoto.
"I am greatly honoured to receive the AIAS award," commented Suzuki on hearing the news, "and I am pleased to be highly commended along with many industry visionaries."
The award will be presented to Suzuki as part of the D.I.C.E. (Design, Innovate, Communicate, Entertain) Summit in Las Vegas on February 27th, where he will be taking part in an "Audience With The Masters" workshop with fellow Hall Of Famer, Shigeru Miyamoto.
